HC orders quota for third gender in recruitments
The Telangana High Court has directed the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TGSPSC) and the Labour, Employment and Training departments to include third gender status reservations for transgender individuals in recruitment processes, in addition to caste-based reservations.
A bench of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice N Rajeshwar Rao was hearing a petition filed by Bhumibathula Edukondalu, a third gender person, challenging Rule 22 of the Telangana State and Subordinate Rules, 1996. The Rules outline special representations (reservations) but do not specify provisions for the third gender category.
The petitioner argued that recruitment bodies like TGSPSC and the State Labour and Employment departments have failed to include reservations for the third gender, despite Supreme Court guidelines in the National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India case and prior directions from the Telangana High Court. These guidelines and directions mandate the state to issue orders or administrative instructions providing reservations for transgender individuals in education and government jobs. The petitioner contended that the recruitment agencies should adopt horizontal reservations within caste-based reservations to provide for the third gender.
Considering these arguments, the court directed TGSPSC to extend reservations to the petitioner in job notifications, in addition to their reserved category quota. The court adjourned the matter for further hearing, along with other similar petitions, for continued deliberation on this issue.
Hold elections to JH housing society within 4 months: HC
Directing that elections to the Jubilee Cooperative Housing Society Limited (JCHSL) be conducted within four months, the Telangana High Court issued several key directives regarding the revision of electoral rolls and membership eligibility for the Society.
The court mandated that any revision of electoral rolls must be conducted in a timely manner. If revisions are not completed within a reasonable timeframe, elections must proceed based on the existing electoral rolls. This ensures that members who have previously gained membership The court directed authorities to verify JCHSL records and finalise the voter list without being influenced by the report of the three-man committee. Elections are to be conducted within four months, the court said.
The court also noted that complaints filed by some society members against JCHSL were frivolous, as was the report from the three-man committee.
The appointment of a person-in-charge committee and the failure to hold elections were deemed unwarranted.
Irresponsible complaints and failures by the concerned authorities have stalled the society’s activities, the court said, adding that this caused significant revenues to remain unspent, leading to unnecessary I-T payments.